[color=slategray]A collab between [@Timemaster] and [@SgtEasy]
The Meeting Place
[url=https://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/ZZ08E5EBFD.jpg][color=slategray]The Clergy's Guide to the Galaxy[/color][/url][/color][hr]She was not so surprised as she would have been six months ago. A message from a race of human clones which fight with primitive bone weapons? Joan gazed at the Ishtari module she could see in the vacuum of space, a gargantuan structure which rivalled much of the rest of the Meeting Place. No. She could not come close to being any bit surprised anymore.

Well, that was until she read the prisoner list forwarded to her by the One. If she had visible eyebrows, they would be reaching to the back of her skull.

“Sergeant Kingston Marley, you’ve listed here. This one believes that this orangutan had been MIA on New Hollywood, presumed killed in action.” Joan flicked her pages up and down the sheet, scanning for any other names of note she may have missed. The words were starting to float in front of her eyes and she forced herself to stifle a yawn.

Since the… unfortunate loss of her fellow ambassador, the priestess had been loaded with twice as much work as the city-states were still unable to give the Khan a proper replacement. They would squabble and debate, with the Freemen outright snubbing the Khan by announcing they had no candidates to replace Descartes. In the end, she isolated herself from the debates, focusing on the endless work of liaising between countless nations and her own. Truthfully, most of the exhaustion was from her missing her friend.

Joan hummed, glancing at the James? Grant? She could never tell the difference. “Sergeant Marley is an important asset to the Khanate and this one must admit, a highly valuable one.” As well as someone who inadvertently caused the disappearance of her friend. “What sort of demands do you want for this prisoner exchange? The Khan is always open to listen.”


The Grant stood tall, dressed in full battle armor but without a helmet, leaving their scars visible, which they wanted to convey that they understand the strength and the threat that the Khan have and are. They were flanked by two others, Jamess, these as well dressed the same but with their faces covered. 

The One long understood that in order to deal with the other nations, it would be easier for one of them to have their faces uncovered while the others wouldn’t have it. Not that they cared about how the others saw them but to calm their minds.

“[color=gold] Kingston Marley, is still alive in the possession of the One. We have kept him safe, healed the wounds that he suffered in the battle with us. The sergeant was an exemplary foe and we wanted to learn... [/color]” said the Grant then stopped, letting each word soak in then continued “[color=gold]...and learn; we did. The genetic enhancements done to him are something that the One was not able to reproduce in ourselves and your rage was...unpleasant for our mind as it is. 

We found a way to adapt to it, as it is our way. Survival at any cost. Sergeant Kingston’s template was combined with that of the One. [/color]” without stopping, the Grant blinked twice and a Hybrid was brought into the room with a group of Williams. Their hands tied to each other, while the Williams had their spears pointed towards their neck. 

They were tall, standing at least two heads taller than the Williams with fur covering their head going down towards their backs. Muscles bulging and eyes white like snow. The face was akin to the One’s but with the usual features of a gorilla. 

“[color=gold] This is the result. Stronger, faster and with enhanced regeneration skills. Exactly what the sergeant had but with the added One mind. Even now we feel their strength, the bloodrage in them. They want battle, they want to murder. Only thing that is keeping them from doing so, is our willpower. We need a way to understand the bloodrage and to control it fully, not only at times. [/color]” said the Grant. 

The ambassador hummed in thought, eyeing the One representative.It would be a few minutes of silent thinking before she made a decision, pressing a button on the bottom of her desk while warning the One. The room darkened, flashed brightly for a few seconds before coming back to normal.

“Sensors to destroy any listening devices, this one hopes you understand.” 

The One looked around and smiled. 

“[color=gold]The listening devices might be from the other survivors of Earth, not from the One. We hope that you understand that we have no use for them. We can communicate just fine between ourselves without it. For example, there’s someone coming down the hall, heading towards this very office. He’s going to be here in a few minutes. [/color]” said the Grant, a triumphant smile on their face.

She merely raised an eyebrow at this, before moving on. “As leading ambassador of the Khanate, this one has access to a few secret files within the Khan’s vast intelligence database. Unfortunately, Operative Bloodburn or as you know him, Sergeant Kingston Marley, is largely inaccessible even with my personal clearance codes.” Joan coughed lightly, slightly embarrassed with the little information she had. “However, this one is aware that Bloodburn is part of a program within the Legion to augment Legionnaires to an unknown extent. Again, this one does not have much more information available-”

The door opened abruptly, alerting everyone in the private ambassador’s office. In the doorway was a scarred, elderly gorilla in a gentlemanly suit. Joan stood in a tired protest, gesturing to the One presence. “Colonel! This is not the time to dally into this office-”

“Don’t get yer branches in a twist ma’am, this is Herald business and officially above your pay grade.” The ‘Colonel’ gazed over the room, menacingly staring down at the humans within. As per usual, the One stood their ground with no fear of death.

Sizing up the Colonel, the Grant nodded and then looked at him directly in his eyes. No fear or emotion on their face. They listened quietly to the Colonel talking and they chuckled internally. He reminded them of a Scot’ they knew centuries ago. Crazy Pete. Only person to ever go into battle with a red shirt and brown pants in case they were overwhelmed by the enemy. 

Colonel Travis snorted, pointing towards the [i]Terra Supremus[/i] floating into the view of the window, escorted by two Mobile Carriers. “Yer gettin’ into that, ya hear? This is KAISer business, Bloodburn belongs to them. If you wanna know how to control yer mutant freaks, you want to talk to them on that ship. The Herald is interested in a deal.”

As the Colonel said “freaks”, a scowl appeared on the Grant’s face. 

“[color=gold] We understand you’re important in your society but if you refer to ourselves as “freaks” in our presence, once more, you are not going to be important for long. [/color]”. The threat was clear in their voice. None may refer to Hybrids or in extension to the One as a freaks of nature. 

Out of all humanity, they were the most human. Sure, there were a few others that didn’t upgrade their bodies to a non-human level and ‘thus the reason for the Hybrids [i]but[/i] overall, they were human. 

“[color=gold] The Herald wants to talk with us? Agreed but no tricks. We don’t want to fight again but if we have to, we will. We’re pretty sure that we have proven ourselves to be...hard to erase. [/color]” said the Grant, their voice back to their usual calm and composed version.

The One followed the Colonel to the [i]Terra Supremus[/i] spaceship. Following him closely with the Hybrid being gently prodded from time to time with the butts of the Wiliams’ spears.

[center][sup][h1][sup][color=black]  [b]▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅[/b][/color]   [/sup]
 [sup][color=181818][b]▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅[/b][/color] [/sup][/h1][/sup][/center]
They would be led on to the [i]Terra Supremus[/i] through a large shuttle, escorted by the Colonel and an armed guard. There would be little talk between the two groups, walking through a surprisingly silent colony ship. When sound came, it would be from the myriad number of animals littering the jungle biospheres around the ship. Alas, thus far there was not a soul seen yet.

The One’s group followed closely, scanning every part of the ship they laid their eyes on for escape routes, ambushes or any tech that could be potentially stolen if a fight would break out.

They would come to a large room with a steel table and a few chairs, at its head an empty throne adorned with the eagles of the Khan at each post. The only grand gesture in what appeared to be a courtly room, seats lining the walls in a parliamentary fashion, humble in design and utterly empty. 

Soldiers at heart, the One minds wondered at every possible way of them being attacked by a fairly-unknown potential enemy. Their fears turned to be for naught alas. If the Khan wished to attack they would’ve at any point during the journey in the almost-empty ship. 

It was dark, almost unnerving, until the Herald stepped into the limelight.

Temujin II was as quiet as the room and the occupants within. Nary a sound was made as he sat down aside from the creaking of the chair under the orangutan’s weight. There would be more silence as the guards left, leaving the Colonel, the Herald and the One in the room.

[color=cd5c5c]”An interesting creature. Half-ape, half-man. Mutant. Some purists in the Khanate would go crazy while some genetic alterists would go crazy for different reasons.”[/color] He finally spoke, with a brevity which surpassed one his age should not possess. 

Thus were the necessities in the life of a representative of the Khan. Even as his son, which would be common knowledge to anyone. It was mere willpower that he still kept the youth, mirth and enthusiasm in his voice. The Herald sat back in his chair, eyes still studying the creature. [color=cd5c5c]”I have been told you wish to tame this creature's bloodrage, the ape within him.”[/color] It twitched within its bounds at its mentioning, bloodshot eyes darting to and forth around the room. It would take not-so-gentle nudges to put the creature back in line but even now, it still simmered in a dense, unspeakable madness.

[color=cd5c5c]”To control the bloodrage, one must decrease the Supremus within it. Even now, at 50% of each lifeform, it is too much ape running through its veins. To tame it, become more One rather than more Supremus. It will surely decrease the capabilities of your new soldiers but will make it easier for you to control them.”

“As for BLOODBURN and as to why he is an exception, call it one-in-a-billion genetics. Trust me. KAISer tried to recreate it. Kingston Marley just had the right genes, right heritage and right history to tame the ‘beast’ within. Even then, most of the scientists chalked it up to luck that he did not devolve into a shit-slinging baboon with the rage of a million suns. Which is half of what you have now.”

[color=cd5c5c]”This information, I give for free.”[/color] The Khan paused, eyes darkening and tone lowering. Large figures seemed to loom in the upper shadows of this council-area, larger than even the colonel or the Herald in his high throne. It would be hard to see even as close as they were, as the figures seemed to blend and shift with the light. [color=cd5c5c]”But secrets are kept tightly in the Khanate. We would appreciate your cooperation in keeping this program quiet.”[/color] 

The mood brightened and the figures vanished, the Herald smiling. [color=cd5c5c]”But with this show of trust, we officially recognise the One as warriors worthy of respect, given how tough a time you gave the E.S.M.G. in its founding days this has been long overdue. So I and KAISer would like to put forward a proposal for greater diplomatic and defensive cooperation, given what the Khan plans to do in the future.”

“A combined super-soldier program with KAISer assets and access to the top geneticists in the Khanate. In exchange, BLOODBURN must be returned. We will even throw in cattle to sweeten the deal, to expand your culinary culture.”[/color] The smile turned sinister near the end but returned to normal. 

[color=cd5c5c]”What say you, One?”[/color]

As the Herald finished his speech, the lead Grant nodded respectfully at him. Finally, someone important enough to give them answers to a very important question they had. If the Hybrid was able to be controlled, it would increase the One’s military capabilities by ten-fold.

“[color=gold]Greetings Herald. We are pleased that you’ve agreed to meet us. You’ve proven to be a competent leader in the WFR, even if you disapprove that the Khan had anything to do with that. 

Your people have impressed us greatly, otherwise we wouldn’t have tried doing what we’ve done. While a bit primal in combat for our liking, you’ve proven again and again that you’re a good enemy to have. [/color]” said the Grant, their voice full of respect while their eyes were scanning the room. At last, they looked the Herald directly in the eye and continued :

“[color=gold] But even better allies. We know [i] who [/i] and [i] what [/i] Bloodburn is Herald. The first step we’ve taken in understanding him was to make him one of us. 

Every secret he had is now ours. We won’t disclose these secrets to anyone, so you don’t have to worry about that. They mean nothing to us. What we mean to say with this is that we understand who we’re dealing with. 

For example, you’ve said his genetics are one-in-a-billion? The One makes their own chances. Right now, there are a few thousand hybrids on our planet. Those that we managed to control briefly, we send them to fight and die against the Immortalis’s machines. They all have Bloodburn’s abilities.

One-in-a-billion chance has become a 100% chance. That is not our problem and that is not why we are here.[/color]” the Grant stopped and let the words sink in.

They knew that it was dangerous to tell the Khan’s brother about their implants and information gathering abilities. Some might view the One’s way as inhuman or worse which would in turn reduced the chances of survival. 

“[color=gold] We can discuss a treaty at a later date but know that we agree for now. We shall return your soldier, his return is long-overdue and we have everything we need from him. You may send us just one cow. The fattest you have. We'll make more of them, not an issue. 

As for the training programme…we’ll agree to it as well. Hopefully, it will bear fruit and our hybrid brothers will finally be allowed to [i] join [/i] us. [/color]” said the Grant while extending their hand to shake the Herald’s. 

The Herald returned the handshake with gusto, obviously pleased with the turnout of events. [color=cd5c5c]”I am sure your trouble with the Hybrids is some nonsense our conditioning will be able to wean out. Now, where is BLOODBURN?”[/color]

[hr][color=slategray]Unknown Location

A previously unknown soldier[/color][hr]It was a small room, one could not even call it a cell. A small bed and a nightstand next to it, bare walls and bare floors but with a separate room for a toilet and shower. A chute in the corner from which food and fresh clothing would arrive. It was here that Kingston awoke a mere three days ago by his counting. It was boring yet could have been far, [i]]far[/i] worse. The Khan would not provide as many luxuries to captured prisoners. And so, it was here he stewed, unknowing of what would happen to him, how long he was out for and what happened to the war. There was not even a visible door for him to rip out and the chute was too thin for his bulk.

The large orangutan was simply [i]bored[/i]. This was until the far wall shook open abruptly, interrupting him from his three hour nap.

The One received their communications instantly through a link of clones sharing the upgraded implant. The Grant that met with the Herald, sent the information to those on the Meeting Place that passed it to a ship that was orbiting just out of the Gateway which then went into it, came out on the other side and sent it to the others. 

Communication made instant. That was the true gift of the One implant.

Hundreds of Jamess gathered at the prison where not ‘till long ago housed two other prisoners from the ECU which were released straight after the WFR ended. 
All the James’ were armed to their teeth, spears, bows, swords and a few carried machine guns and other weapons they’ve received or recently constructed from their allies. 

A William stepped in the light-less cell and faced Bloodburn. 

“[color=gold] Mr. Kingston. The One has news for you. The war is over and the Khan has paid your ransom and you’re free to leave. 

Please follow us and know that outside, we’ve got over a hundred of us watching your every move. Know that we don’t wish to see you harmed in any way but we [b][i]will [/i][/b] defend ourselves if you decide to attack us.  [/color]” said the William. Their voice was full of respect for the sergeant. A strong soldier deserved no less. 

The orangutan sat up on the bed. His eyes scanned the outside, not to find the One which he sensed was there, but to figure out where he was.

Coming up with nothing, Kingston walked forward on all fours towards the William, stopping a metre away. “I was getting bored human, it’s about time my government decided to care enough to get me home.” He heaved himself to stand on two limbs and one would realise how [i]large[/i] the modified soldier was compared to what an ordinary orangutan should best. And how muscular he was.

He strode forward in confidence, as though the soldiers which surrounded him could not stand to his might. Call it ignorance, call it foolhardy, but BLOODBURN could not care for his mind was somewhere else. There was only reason the Khan would pay even a pile of shit for his ransom.

OLYMPIA has come, and it needs a leader.